Video Games and Writing

Words are a connection to everything around us. We use them to name things, to create sentences, to communicate and tell stories. But have you thought about how they are used in a deeper way to inspire, create, and show stories in a create way – video games?

I’ve been thinking and talking a lot about what interests me lately and the connection between them. So today I’ll be focusing on writing and video games. 

If you really thought about it, I mean really think about the process and what goes into the creation of them; you would see that stories and video games have a lot in common. Let’s delve into this a little more…

Similarities

 When we think of stories and video games the first thing that comes to mind is most likely the characters you are familiar with within each. 

Characters

Every good story has memorable characters and it’s the same for video games. Those characters that have made an impact on you or those that you connected with as you played or read through the story. 

Each story and video game has those characters that the main character interacts with along their journey, whether that is a friend, random person on the road. You speak to them for information, resources, or create a companion along the way or they become your conflict. 

These are know as secondary or non-playable characters. They help you on your journey and in some cases provide a distraction for a moment from the main conflict. By communicating with secondary and non-playable characters you get a deeper understanding of the main character and their surrounding area. 

Then there are those that you meet, who get in your way. Those you must defeat to advance on to the next phase of the journey; the villains, henchmen, ghouls, and more. These they must defeat to advance within the game or story. Then there is the big one, the one at the end of the game/story before the character wins everything and things come to a close. Watch out for those guys, they can be pretty nasty. 

Setting

Whether though words or the creative talents of the artists, developers and others who bring a game to life, there is always as setting where both forms take place. There is always a place you start that is safe and engulfed in calm before you are pushed out the door to discover the world for the purpose that is set before them.

The setting changes as the character travels thought each level or chapter fighting enemies, self doubt, and more in order to continue to where they will find what they are looking for. 

Journey

Pretty self explanatory, each main character and even some secondary characters are journeying through their story life to complete whatever task the writer has put in front of them. 

Obstacles/Conflicts

Every character, encounters obstacles and conflicts along their path. Internal and external conflict bombard the character as they strive to complete what they set out to accomplish. 

Choices

Every character whether main or secondary has a choice or many choices to make along the way. A choice to go in the first play, who to trust, who not to trust, where to go and more. It’s no wonder characters are so distracted and doubtful when they start out. 

Non-Playable/Secondary Characters

Every story has secondary characters, those that you may meet once and never come in contact with again or ones that come along on the journey as your companion(s). They often offer wisdom, council, information, and more as the character journeys forward. 

Main Obstacle/Boss

Each character has a climactic boss they must defeat in order to win the day. The villain is always defeated. That same villain that has been tormenting and inadvertently pushing the character to become the hero and wind the day. To defeat all that was thrown at them and push forward for the main battle. They are the reason for the story, the cause of the distress of the character and the distraction of them is how things go back to the positive. 

Quest

Just as we are on a quest through life, all characters are on a quest for something, whether that something is an internal justification or external object/situation. Each one has a quest they are reaching toward. 

Writers Behind the Story

The most unique similarity are the writers behind the story. Each and every one of them is different, with different ideas, thoughts, and views of how the story/game will reach its end. It’s the writers that make the story of a novel or game possible. They are the reason the story/game exists and that is an amazing feat.

Differences

Visual vs Imagined

We’ve all read stories and let our imaginations picture what we believe the characters would look like, what the scenery would look like, the characters expressions, their actions and more. Unless the book comes with images, that is the only way we as readers are going to relatively know what the things being written about are. 

With video games, the imagination of the characters, scenery and more have already been fleshed out and put on the screen. Some may think this would take away from the fun of the story, but you get to join on the journey by being the main character. You get to walk up to secondary characters and talk to them or not, to go one way or another.

You make Decisions for the Character

When reading a story, you are not in control. You’re an onlooker. You can imagine what things look like, but you have no control over what the character(s) do or where they go. 

It’s a bit different with video games, though you may not know where you’re supposed to go or who you’re going to see, you have the choice where to go at times and when to go back to the main mission. You can can choose to go right away or hang out and do side missions to gain experience. It’s up to you.

Difference in Conflict 

In a story you get the internal conflicts of the character more than in a video game character. You may see cut scenes of the past, or something relating to the story, but that is not always the case. There are those games whose story line it a little difficult to follow or figure out the reason behind why the character is doing what they are doing. Also, video games are wrought with boss minions while the stories focus more on the development of the character and the journey itself to reach the end. 

Villains 

Every story has a main villain whether that is a video, novel, short story, video game or even a board game. But what’s the difference? Novels give you a glimpse into the villains why, while video games are a little bit more on point. 

There are also those smaller henchmen type villains in video games that you come across quite often, while in stories there may be more internal distractions or natural distractions the character must face. 

Final Thoughts

Even though these two medias are completely different, they do have quite a bit in common. If you’re looking for some inspiration and ideas, it’s a good idea to look at some video games to get a different perspective of things.